Les Bowen

STAFF WRITER

Les Bowen has covered the Eagles since 2002. Before that, he covered the Flyers for 13 years. He came to the Daily News from the Charlotte Observer in May 1983, just as the Sixers were winning the NBA championship. He thought, "Gosh, this sort of thing must happen all the time here."

Bethlehem attorney Steve Shields said Eagles defensive end Juqua Parker waived his preliminary hearing, as expected, in a "30-second" appearance in a Northampton County court, between the Eagles' two Tuesday practices.

Parker, accused of possessing a small amount of marijuana, probably will not face another court date until next offseason, Shields said.

"This case now has to wind its way through the system," he said. "At some point, I'll be going over the situation with the district attorney, determining how to proceed. I don't expect there will be any action on this case until after the season's over."

***

Backup quarterback Kevin Kolb was walking normally as he left the locker room area Tuesday, wearing a white fabric sleeve on his injured knee.

Kolb will not play in Thursday's preseason opener against New England and has been listed as day-to-day.

*

Another day, another injury.

During a 7-on-7 drill at about 9:40 a.m., wideout Hank Baskett, surrounded by defenders, went down and clutched his right knee, dropping a comeback pass, apparently as a result of twisting his knee . Baskett walked off the field and was tended to by head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder. Later, Baskett walked out of the locker room and indicated he was OK. The team said he had hyperextended the knee, the same injury DeSean Jackson suffered over the weekend, which Jackson returned from the next day.

Baskett's injury was so minor that he was back on the field for the afternoon practice, although he does have a brace on the knee.

This is the last of two-a-days at Lehigh. The team will have walkthrough tomorrow that is closed to the public.

*

Defensive coordinator Sean McDermott on what he is looking for in Thursday's preseason opener at the Linc against New England:

“We’re looking to take the next step in the development process of this defense and come out with an established and aggressive tone. I want to see the players execute fundamentals.”

One of the things McDermott needs to get a handle on is his middle linebacking position, with Stewart Bradley down for the season. McDermott praised starter Joe Mays, but said newcomer Matt Wilhelm is adapting quickly.

“He’s absorbing the defense. Very intelligent player. Very experienced player. He comes from a framework where there is some carryover. At the same time, you have to move fast, so he’s done a nice job up to this point,” McDermott said.

*

CRUNCH TIME

(a compilation of hits and a few misses from Tuesday's morning session)

*You can tell the team is ready to leave Lehigh -- for the second day in a row, the morning session was less than crisp. Donovan McNabb tried to liven things up by mugging for the crowd, leading cheers and playing air guitar on the sideline. Fans were given schedule refrigerator magnets on Fan Appreciation Day.

*The field goal unit went through its bag of trickery. Took holder Sav Rocca a couple tries to complete the fake FG pass to Juqua Parker. No, Sav didn't try to wing the ball sidearm like a boomerang or anything. David Akers also took the snap on a 50-yard-plus field goal setup and tried to punt to the goalline, but the ball rolled into the end zone. Akers later said not having sideline markers made him guess wrong as to where he needed to drop the ball.

*Welcome to the NFL, Matt Nagy. The coaching intern turned emergency quarterback had a goalline pass tipped, then picked off by Jack Ikegwuonu.

*DeSean Jackson went high and wide to flag down a sideline grab, falling inbounds.

*A blitz left Brent Celek uncovered over the middle, and McNabb hit him.

*About 20 minutes after Hank Baskett left the field clutching his knee, A.J. Feeley seemed to get tripped up by one of his linemen and fell awkwardly. Feeley got right back up, uninjured, forestalling the possible comeback of former Arena League QB Marty Mornhinweg.